iOS app developer earnings pass $70 billion mark

Apple has announced that developers have now earned over $70 billion from selling products through its iOS App Store. Mere days before it's due to host its 2017 developers conference, the company announced that downloads increased significantly last year.

Apple Store on Fifth Avenue in New York

Kena Betancur, AFP

In a press release today, Apple said that developers globally have made over $70 billion from App Store sales since the store launched on the iPhone back in 2008. The company recognised that an entire economy has been built around the app store and the thousands of software businesses it has created.

Although analysts are becoming increasingly concerned that the app age is coming to an end, Apple remains upbeat. The company said it has observed a 70 percent increase in iOS app installs in the past 12 months alone. The statistic casts doubt on the reports of "app fatigue," a phenomenon that is widely thought to be spreading through the smartphone population.

Apple noted that the success of the App Store has been in large part responsible for the widespread appeal of its products. The company described the new figures as "simply mind-blowing," stating its commitment to helping developers succeed through creating apps for iOS products.

Apple's App Store has made developers over $70bn in revenue

Apple

"People everywhere love apps and our customers are downloading them in record numbers," said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. "Seventy billion dollars earned by developers is simply mind-blowing. We are amazed at all of the great new apps our developers create and can’t wait to see them again next week at our Worldwide Developers Conference."

Sign-ups to subscription services are also on the rise. Since launching the option to sell subscriptions through the Apple Store, increasing numbers of developers including video streaming sites Netflix and Hulu have taken advantage of the feature. Sales are now 58 percent year-over-year as customers choose to manage all their subscriptions from the App Store's centralised view.

Apple highlighted several apps that have recently seen success within the walls of the Store. The company said that Super Mario Run has been one of the App Store's biggest hits. In general, the Gaming and Entertainment categories remain the highest grossing for developers, seeing more sales than any other.

Apple's App Store has made developers over $70bn in revenue

Apple

The fastest growing category is Photo and Video which has seen an enormous 90% increase in the past year. It highlights the continued demand for social media apps and photo filtering utilities. More intriguingly, Health and Fitness is also seeing sustained growth at 70% year-over-year. This suggests consumers are increasingly eager to adopt digital health solutions based on a smartphone app.

Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference is scheduled to take place next week. During the event, Apple is expected to unveil iOS 11, the upcoming version of the platform which will be released later this year. It will detail new capabilities for developers to enable even more powerful apps, potentially including new opportunities around virtual and mixed reality.

With the App Store still rapidly expanding, there's clear incentives for Apple to keep investing in its future. It will announce the next steps in the store's development when it takes to the stage in San Jose, California, next week.